PICA Reaches Quota – Customers Invited to Come Back May 21

The Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) is advising members of the public that it has reached its daily quota for the processing of passport applications at its head office in Kingston, and is inviting members of the public, whose applications are over the limit, to come back tomorrow (May 21).

Chief Executive Officer at PICA, Jennifer McDonald, says the agency began processing passport applications at 6:00 a.m. today (May 20), and had reached its daily quota of 1,000 applications by 8:30 a.m.

“We are inviting persons to come tomorrow, because we are at our capacity now and we have to manage the carrying capacity of the premises, which includes our staff… it’s all hands on deck, we are involved in the processing and so we are just asking you to understand and come tomorrow,” she told JIS News in an interview.

PICA took the decision yesterday (May 19) to introduce a daily quota for passport applications at its branches, in order to manage the overwhelming number of persons seeking to apply for passports prior to the implementation of increased fees on May 26.

The daily quota will be in place for the rest of the week at the Head Office and its branches as follows: Head Office, 1,000 applications; Mandeville, 150; Montego Bay, 250; St. Ann’s Bay, 200; May Pen, 100; and Portmore, 90.

The agency is also reminding persons that until Friday, May 22 it will only accept applications from customers whose passports have expired or will expire in six months or less as well as from first-time applicants.

In addition, PICA will not be offering expedited service during the period, save for emergency cases.

Customers in the Corporate Area are also being reminded that those who are scheduled to pick up their passports this week must do so at the Police Officers’ Club on Hope Road. Collection of passports will continue at this location until Friday May 22, 2015.